Minneapolis, Minnesota
June 7, 1958
Prince Rogers Nelson is born.
His father, John Lewis Nelson, known by his stage name of Prince Rogers, was a jazz musician and songwriter.
His mother, Mattie Della Shaw, a gifted jazz singer.
Probably due to his parents' influence, Prince became interested in music at a young age.
At age 7, he wrote his first song called "Funk Machine." I'm not joking.
When Prince was 10, his parents divorced, and his Mom remarried.
He lived in both homes, understandably having a rough relationship with his stepdad, Hayward Baker.
However, it was Baker who took Prince to see James Brown in concert.
Prince stayed active with music the rest of his childhood, but also played many sports.
He was a poor student at Central High School, not taking his academics seriously because he was so involved with his music.
In 1975, Prince began recording with the band 94 East.
The next year, Prince made a demo tape with producer Chris Moon.
Moon couldn't get Prince a record deal with the demo, but he convinced businessman Owen Husney to sign Prince to a management contract.
Husney helped Prince record a new demo at Sound 80 Studios in Minneapolis.
With that demo and the marketing help of Husney's ad agency, Prince got interest from several record companies.
At the age of 17, Prince ended up signing a three album deal with Warner Brothers Records.
Well dang it was that easy? I guess school IS overrated.
Anyway, he headed to California to record his first album, an album in which he did everything- he produced it all, arranged it all, composed it all, and even played all 27 instruments on it.
The only help he got was with the lyrics for the song "Soft and Wet."
Warner Brothers released the album, called For You, on April 7, 1978.
Reviews of the album were mostly "meh."
Soft and Wet" reached number 12 on the Hot Soul Singles chart and number 92 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The single "Just as Long as We're Together" reached number 91 on the Hot Soul Singles chart.
Not a bad start there, Prince. Not a bad start.
Prince was a workhorse. Constantly and consistently writing, recording, and performing, and because of all that improving.
He formed a backing band to perform the songs he recorded live, and quickly released his self-titled second album on October 19, 1979.
Look at the cover of the album. Just look at it.
Critics were much more positive about this album and it had a more varied sound to it.
Featuring the hits "I Wanna Be Your Lover," which reached Number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad?" "Still Waiting," and "Sexy Dancer," the album ended up selling more than three million copies in the U.S.
On January 26, 1980, Prince got a lot of exposure for a performance on the popular show American Bandstand.
He released his third album, Dirty Mind, on October 8, 1980.
This one became an instant classic, and was quite a change in direction compared to his first two albums.
For one thing, this one contained sexually explicit lyrics on it, and freaked out conservatives across the country.
It was also a revolutionary blend of all kinds of genres.
While his first two albums were mostly funk-pop, Dirty Mind was a mix of funk, new wave, R&B, and something else that was entirely unique to Prince.
The album wasn't as commercially successful as his self-titled album, but it was definitely much more critically acclaimed.
It featured the singles "Uptown," "Dirty Mind," and "Do It All Night."
And look at that cover. Goodness gracious.
On February 21, 1981, Prince made his first appearance on Saturday Night Live, performing the song "Partyup."
Prince released his fourth album, the self-aware and socially conscious Controversy, on October 14, 1981.
His lyrics seemed to respond to much of what was happening in society, but also a direct response to people who had criticized his hyper sexuality.
Critics again adored this album, although it wasn't praised quite as much as Dirty Mind.
The album had four official singles.
The title track, "Sexuality," "Let's Work," and "Do Me, Baby."
Notably, this was the first album in which Prince stopped giving a crap about proper spelling of words.
He toured heavily to promote the album.
Also in 1981, Prince formed a side project band called The Time, which is still active to this day.
On October 27, 1982, Prince released his breakthrough double album, 1999.
It was his first album to break the top 10 on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually selling over 4 million copies in the U.S.
With this album, Prince was now a household name.
The title track, "1999", a song actually protesting the buildup of nuclear weapons, today remains one of his most recognizable songs and his first top ten hit in countries outside the United States.
Many people would be saying they'd be partying like it was 1999 for several years afterward due to the hit song.
In fact, they even said it after 1999 had passed, come to think of it.
Other singles on the album included "Little Red Corvette," "D.M.S.R.," "Delirious," "Let's Pretend We're Married," and "Automatic."
As Prince toured with his band, who he called the Revolution, to promote 1999, his popularity grew and grew.
He and Michael Jackson, both African Americans, were now seemingly competing to be the biggest pop stars in the world.
So Prince was now a superstar, so why not star in a major motion picture?
On July 27, 1984, Warner Brothers released Purple Rain, a film starring Prince that was loosely based on his life.
The soundtrack to the film, Prince's sixth album also called Purple Rain, was ultimately his most popular ever, eventually selling more than 13 million copies in the U.S. and spending 24 straight weeks at number one on the Billboard 200 chart.
It featured the hits "When Doves Cry," "Let's Go Crazy," "I Would Die 4 U," "Take Me With U," and of course "Purple Rain."
Also on the album was a song called "Darling Nikki," which featured lyrics about masturbation.
After Tipper Gore heard her 11-year old daughter listening to the song, she was alarmed enough to create the Parents Music Resource Center, known later for their Parental Advisory: Explicit Lyrics labels.
Right before the release of his seventh album, Around the World in a Day, on April 22, 1985, Prince announced he would no longer be performing live or releasing music videos.
Woah. Prince barely promoted the album, which was much more experimental than Purple Rain, but it still managed to sell over 2 million copies and had four singles: "Raspberry Beret," "Paisley Park," "Pop Life," and "America."
Oh, and this one was the first album also released by his record label he founded called Paisley Park Records, named after his recording studio, called Paisley Park Studios.
Critics were mixed about the album's psychedelic sound.
They were much more positive, though, about his eighth album, Parade, which was released on March 31, 1986, and also the soundtrack to the film Under the Cherry Moon.
Prince, of course was the star of that film, even directing it.
The movie got horrible reviews. But back to the album.
Oh my gosh. Look at that cover. LOOK AT IT.
This one had four singles: "Kiss," "Mountains," "Anotherloverholenyohead," which was probably one of the best song titles ever, and "Girls & Boys."
Oh, and by the way, Prince wrote songs for a bunch of others.
The same year Parade came out, he wrote a song for the Bangles called "Manic Monday," which ended up becoming a huge hit.
Around this time, Prince had a bunch of stuff he was working on on the side, had planned to release it as a triple album under the title Crystal Ball, but Warner Brothers forced him to trim it to a double album.
That ended up becoming his ninth album, Sign o' the Times, released on March 31, 1987.
Critics absolutely loved this album. In fact, this was probably his most critically acclaimed album ever.
Prince went back on tour to promote the album, but only overseas.
Warner Brothers filmed the last two nights of the tour and released a film out of the footage.
In addition to the title track, Sign o' the Times featured the singles "If I Was Your Girlfriend," "U Got the Look," and "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man."
So Prince had planned a new album called The Black Album, a more experimental album that incorporated elements of hip hop.
Warner Brothers produced more than half a million copies of it.
It had nothing but a monochromatic black cover and the catalog number printed on it.
However, Prince all of a sudden realized the album was evil and had it recalled.
He went back to the studio and in seven weeks recorded what would become his tenth studio album, entitled Lovesexy, released on May 10, 1988.
Look at that cover. I mean, you can't NOT look at that cover.
Prince, you knew how to do album covers. Just saying.
Anyway, this one received more mixed reviews and his least successful album since Controversy.
This one had three singles: "Alphabet St.," "Glam Slam," and "I Wish U Heaven."
Prince played 84 shows with his backing band to support Lovesexy.
In 1989, he co-wrote songs with Madonna and worked on several side projects.
Oh, and he recorded the freaking soundtrack to Tim Burton's Batman, released on June 20, 1989, officially his eleventh studio album.
The soundtrack was a huge success after his previous album flopped.
Prince did have to give up his publishing rights for the soundtrack, so that sucked for him.
The Batman soundtrack had five singles: "Batdance," "Partyman," "The Arms of Orion," "Scandalous!" and "The Future."
In 1990, Prince released his fourth film, called Graffiti Bridge, a film he wrote, directed and starred in.
Graffiti Bridge, which was the sequel to Purple Rain, was the final film he starred in.
The soundtrack, which he obviously also recorded, did much better than the film, featuring the singles "Thieves in the Temple," "Round and Round," and "New Power Generation."
Oh, and now Prince got some nice little labels added to his album covers.
With lots of help from his new band the New Power Generation, Prince recorded his thirteenth studio album, Diamonds and Pearls, released on October 1, 1991.
The New Power Generation was probably his most talented band he'd ever put together, and Diamonds and Pearls was another smash hit for Prince.
In addition to the title track, the album had the hit singles "Gett Off," "Cream," "Insatiable," and "Money Don't Matter 2 Night."
On October 13, 1992, Prince released his fourteenth album, but I can't pronounce it.
Seriously, no one can. That's what the symbol looks like.
Prince got it copyrighted under the title "Love Symbol #2," and the album became known as the Love Symbol Album.
For this album, Prince and Warner Brothers fought quite a bit about how to promote it.
The album had the hits "Sexy MF," (I think you know what that MF stands for) "My Name Is Prince," "7," "Damn U," and "The Morning Papers."
The album was both a critical and commercial hit.
Warner Brothers released a three-disc greatest hits compilation in 1993. This of course made Prince mad.
Instead of the silly greatest hits album, Prince wanted to release an album of new material.
There it is, I won't say the name of the album, but it was officially the first album by the New Power Generation, and Warner Brothers straight up refused to release it.
So Prince sold it at some concerts and through his 1-800-NEW-FUNK telephone retail outlet. No joke.
Not only that, but Prince had a bunch of other new material he recorded that Warner Brothers was not releasing quickly enough, so in rebellion to his label, he changes his name to uh, the symbol no one can pronounce that I mentioned earlier.
Because radio DJs around the world couldn't pronounce it, they began to refer to him as The Artist Formerly Known as Prince or The Artist.
Beginning in 1994, The Artist began to release as many albums as possible to get out of his contractual obligations to his record label, Warner Brothers, who he now despised.
He also began appearing at shows with the word "Slave" written on his face as a way to protest his feeling like a slave to those contractual obligations.
On August 16, 1994, he released his fifteenth album, Come, which still referred to him as Prince in the album art.
In addition to the title track, it had the singles "Letitgo" and "Space."
The album was kind of a flop.
And remember The Black Album, the album he thought was evil so he didn't release it?
Well Warner Brothers released it on November 22, 1994, even though tens of thousands of bootlegged copies were already all over the place.
On September 26, 1995, The Artist reluctantly released The Gold Experience, his 17th album.
Critics overwhelmingly loved this album, and it had three singles: "The Most Beautiful Girl in the World," which The Artist apparently wrote about my wife, "I Hate U" and "Gold."
The album is currently out of print. Don't believe me? Well here's how much it costs to buy on Amazon currently.
1996 was an extremely productive year for The Artist.
He recorded the soundtrack to the Spike Lee film Girl 6.
On July 9, 1996, he released Chaos and Disorder, his 18th album, and last album of new material for Warner Brothers.
He did not promote the album at all.
The Artist formerly known as Prince was free, and he promptly released a 36-song, 3-CD album called Emancipation on his own label, called NPG Records, the NPG standing for New Power Generation.
His 19th album, released on November 19, 1996, Emancipation was the first album to feature Prince doing covers of other artists.
It featured the singles "Betcha by Golly Wow!" and "The Holy River/Somebody's Somebody."
Emancipation was a concept album that was part celebration of his breakup with Warner Brothers and part celebration of his marriage to long-time girlfriend and former backup singer and dancer Mayte Garcia earlier that year.
The celebration was overshadowed by the fact that Prince and Mayte had lost their baby at just six days old just a month before the album's release.
Around this time, likely due to the traumatic nature surrounding the horrible death of his young son, Prince had started to become interested in the Jehovah's Witnesses.
By 2001,he apparently became a full on Jehovah's Witness, going to church every Sunday morning and even knocking on stranger's doors, the whole bit.
A little over a year later, Prince and Mayte lost their second child due to miscarriage, and this eventually caused the two to grow even more distant. They divorced in 2000.
On January 29, 1998, The Artist released his 20th and 21st albums together as a box set.
The 20th being Crystal Ball, a three-disc set of "previously bootlegged" stuff, and the 21st being an acoustic collection called The Truth.
There was also another bonus album of instrumental stuff from the NPG Orchestra.
Ok, that album cover is lame. Come on now, Prince, you're better than that.
On August 24, 1999, Warner Brothers released The Vault: Old Friends 4 Sale, old recordings The Artist had left behind before he parted ways with the label.
It featured the single "Extraordinary."
Meanwhile, The Artist surprisingly signed with another major record label, Arista, and released his 23rd album with them, called Rave Un2 the Joy Fantastic.
Also surprisingly, The Artist actually promoted the heck out of this album, determined to make it a success.
He let more media outlets interview him more than at any other point in his entire career, even appearing on the teeny bopper Total Request Live.
He also had a pay-per-view special to promote the album.
The album received mixed reviews and did so-so commercially, with just one hit single, "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold."
On May 16, 2000, Prince announced he had become Prince again, abandoning the Love Symbol moniker.
In 2001, he remarried Manuela Testolini. On November 20 of that same year, he released his 24th album, The Rainbow Children.
The album definitely alluded to Prince's conversion to Jehovah's Witnesses, but also explored other religious concepts.
It was a big flop that kind of bewildered many of his long-time fans.
On May 14, 2002, he released his 25th album, One Nite Alone…, also releasing his first-ever live album, One Nite Alone….Live!
2002 was a year in which Prince was more inviting to the public, opening up his studios to tours and meeting many of his fans.
He had a couple new albums in 2003: Xpectation, released only to members of the NPG Music Club on New Year's Day, and n.e.w.s., released on May 26.
With these albums, it was as if Prince was trying to be obscure. n.e.w.s., which featured four tracks, each 14 minutes long, is still the lowest-selling Prince album to date.
However, Prince returned to the national spotlight in 2004, performing a medley at the Grammys and becoming inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
After his induction, he played in a George Harrison tribute performance with Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, and Jeff Lynne, in which he delivered one of the most amazing guitar solos ever.
Columbia Records helped him release his 28th album, Musicology, on April 20, 2004.
Musicology became his most successful album since Diamonds and Pearls, receiving positive reviews and providing the singles "Call My Name," "Cinnamon Girl," and the title track.
The North American tour to support the album, which Prince said was to "bring back music and live musicianship," was one of the most commercially successful tours of all time.
And guess what? Two more albums in 2004.
The Chocolate Invasion, and The Slaughterhouse, both released on March 29.
On March 21, 2006, Universal Music helped Prince release his 31st album, 3121.
Get it? His 31st released on the 21st?
Actually, some say it's a reference to Prince's address in LA. Others say it's a reference to bible verse Psalm 31:21.
Regardless, the album was another success, having four singles: "Te Amo Corazon," "Beautiful, Loved and Blessed," "Black Sweat," and "Fury."
Surprisingly, 3121 became the first Prince album to ever debut at number 1.
He returned to Saturday Night Live to promote it, his first performance on his show in 17 years, and 25 years after his first appearance on the show in 1981.
Later that year Prince opened a nightclub in Las Vegas called 3121.
In 2006, Prince also split with his second wife, Manuela Testolini.
A highlight of Prince's career came on February 2, 2007.
He performed at the Super Bowl 41 halftime show and it was epic.
140 million witnessed it, and many argue it was the greatest Super Bowl performance of all time.
Prince kept up with his one-album deals with major record labels.
Columbia helped him release his 32nd album, Planet Earth, on July 15, 2007.
Finally, a return to great album covers! Look at it! I love it.
Critics mostly praised Planet Earth, but it didn't do nearly as well as 3121.
The album had the hits "Future Baby Mama," "Guitar," and "Somewhere Here on Earth."
On March 29, 2009, Prince released his 33rd and 34th albums, Lotusflow3r and MPLSound, together, as well as Elixer, the debut album from Bria Valente, who Prince had been mentoring.
The triple album set did fairly well commercially but to mixed reviews.
His 35th album, 20Ten, came in 2010, of course, on July 10th.
Instead of going to the big radio stations to debut songs off it, he went to his hometown community station, the Minneapolis based 89.3 The Current.
On December 7 of that year, the The Recording Academy inducted Prince into the Grammy Hall of Fame.
In late 2011, Prince finally discovered the power of the internet, releasing stuff on iTunes and Spotify for the first time.
Prince never slowed down writing, recording, and touring.
In February 2014, in what was called his "Hit N Run Part One" tour, he played last second shows, only announced the day of the show.
People only could predict where the show would be by keeping a close eye on his Twitter account.
On September 26, 2014 he released two new albums.
His 36th album, Plectrumelectrum- one of the best album titles ever- and his 37th album, Art Official Age, both released with Warner Brothers?
You serious buddy? Warner Brothers?
Apparently, yes, reunited with his old enemy.
Both albums were heavily promoted but relatively not that successful.
The biggest hit on Plectrumelectrum was "FixUrLifeUp," whereas Art Official Age had more singles, like "Breakfast Can Wait," "Breakdown," and "Clouds."
Prince released his 38th album, HitnRun Phase One, on September 15, 2015, and 39th album, HitnRun Phase Two, released exclusively for streaming and purchase on the website Tidal, on December 15.
In early 2016, he went on tour to promote the new music, where he performed at many smaller venues and played stripped down shows- just him and a piano.
The tour was going amazingly well, but Prince fell sick in April, postponing shows and releasing a statement that he had influenza.
Even though he wasn't feeling well, he performed a show in Atlanta on April 14th. It would be his final show.
He flew back to Minneapolis, but his plane made an emergency landing at Moline, Illinois, where he was hospitalized after becoming unresponsive.
After he recovered, he returned home, and seemed to be getting better, making several appearances around town and saying he felt fine.
However, on April 21, 2016, police found Prince again unresponsive at Paisley Park. He died that day, at the age of just 57.
Medical examiners later ruled his death caused by an accidental overdose from the drug fentanyl.
Fans across the world held vigils and tributes in his honor. Paisley Park became a sort of shrine, and is now a major tourist attraction.
Some report Prince left so much unreleased music behind that he could have released a new album every year for the next century.
He was also in the process of writing a memoir before his death.
Prince continues to greatly impact the world.
As you watch this, tens of thousands of people around the world are currently listening to a Prince song.
He won 8 Grammy Awards, 6 American Music Awards, a Golden Globe Award, and even an Oscar for Purple Rain.
To date, Prince has sold over 100 million records worldwide. Around half of those in the United States alone.
Today, tsort.info, the most comprehensive collection of popular music data around, ranks Prince has the 16th most successful musical act of all time.
One of the most prolific and accomplished songwriters, producers, and musicians of all-time, Prince Rogers Nelson single handedly changed popular music forever.
He invented what became known as "Minneapolis sound," the mix of funk, R&B, electronic, and rock music that influenced so many who came after him.
He was incredibly unique, often demanding everyone in the industry follow him.
He never chased trends, he created them.
And while the world continues to miss him, he has left so much behind for all of us to continue to enjoy.
What is your favorite Prince song? What your favorite Prince album?
Who should I do a history of next? Let me know in the comments below.
Remember to like and share and all that. Thanks so much for watching!
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